On Mrs Thatcher’s death Mr Capstick, treasurer of Mr Scargill’s Socialist Labour Party, told ITV news: “I’d been talking to Arthur some ten minutes earlier so I sent him a text message, a very short one, just said “Thatcher dead”. I received one almost instantly saying “Scargill alive!” and he’s very much alive.”

He added: “He’s fine. We now have a situation where the government and the establishment have a funeral on their hands which they wish they didn’t have. They need this like a hole in the head.”